BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register



Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald visited Greenwood August 31 to make “an exciting announcement” about the government’s latest investment in business.

A call centre is expected to create 150 jobs in the Kingston/ Greenwood area over the next five years.

Acrobat Research Nova Scotia Limited’s new call centre in the Greenwood Mall will become the company’s Nova Scotia headquarters, the third Acrobat Research office in the province. Other locations include Canso and Cheticamp.

The province, through Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), has authorized a five-year payroll rebate worth $864,600 to facilitate Acrobat’s growth in Greenwood.

The premier called the business “a celebration for the community and a story of success for this company and our province,” pointing to the fact Greenwood topped the list of the many location options open to Acrobat for its new site.

“When this Canadian company decided to expand yet again, they could have chosen any location on the globe. The company needed access to a smart, dedicated workforce in a place that offered employees a quality of life that is second to none.”

Colonel Derek Joyce, Commander of 14 Wing Greenwood, said the new call centre “will no doubt be a means of employment for military family members,” who often find it challenging to secure work in small communities.

Greenwood Mall manager Susan Tidman said having a business like Acrobat in the mall is “a departure from our normal business routine,” but added “it will be a win-win situation.” She said the new business will be the single biggest employer in the mall, and the offices located on the second floor were completely renovated using local contractors.

“Right from the start, the news has been good for the local economy,” said Tidman.

Acrobat president Roland Klassen said a manager has been hired and he expects interviewing for the first 100 positions will begin within the next week.

“We have our fingers and toes crossed to be up and running by September 10,” said Klassen, when pressed for details about the business. He added the office, which has 57 work stations, is expected to run on two shifts. With a starting wage of eight dollars an hour, the average annual salary is $22,000.

In his remarks, MacDonald referenced the “team who worked so hard to make this partnership happen.”

Byron McDonald, president of the Central Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Kings CED was one of those partners, noting the economic development agency “was in at the ground floor supplying all the data required to get the project going.”

Kings West MLA Leo Glavine, who also had a hand in bringing the call centre to his riding, agreed a team approach was key.

“It really started three years ago when the Avon Foods plant in Berwick closed and it became evident we needed to create jobs that could fit a transitional economy. Since then, it has taken a lot of people to keep the pressure on and contacts close to the surface so something could be realized.”

Headquartered in Toronto, Acrobat was founded in 1994 to provide outsourced, outbound and inbound data collection services. It does not sell anything, but rather conducts customer satisfaction surveys and public opinion polls for companies, which includes Ipsos Reid. The company also has offices in Ontario, Nairobi, Kenya and India.